Brussels, 5 June 2025 (dpa/MIA) - NATO defense ministers are to agree Thursday to new planning targets for military capabilities for deterrence and defence at a meeting in Brussels.

Ahead of the meeting, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that air and missile defense, long-range weapons and logistics are among the alliance's top priorities.

In order to ensure that the NATO targets are met, Germany and the other member states will now be assigned new national targets for their military capabilities, including weaponry.

Under the plans, the current targets are to be increased by around 30%, sources told dpa.

These new targets are considered to be a particularly difficult challenge because the existing goals are far from being met. Senior military officials recently spoke of a gap of 30%.

Other topics on the agenda of the defence ministers include support for Ukraine and preparations for the NATO summit in The Hague in just under three weeks’ time.

Leaders are expected to agree on a new target for military spending at the summit, after US President Donald Trump demanded that NATO members spend 5% of their economic output on defence.

Rutte recently proposed a compromise formula of increasing defense-related spending to 3.5% and spending an additional 1.5% on infrastructure. He assumes that the NATO states would agree to this.

The timeline for achieving the possible new spending targets has also yet to be finalized, with both 2032 and 2035 under discussion.